OVING WILL GET SUPERFAST FIBRE ENABLED BROADBAND DURING 2016

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OVING WILL GET SUPERFAST FIBRE ENABLED BROADBAND DURING 2016

The Oving Parish Council has been working exhaustively with BT, BDUK, WSCC and other parties, to get Superfast Broadband into our community, and thanks to the excellent good cooperation from everyone,  OVING WILL NOW GET SUPERFAST FIBRE ENABLED BROADBAND DURING 2016. Initially it would be the village community (up to about 250 dwellings/users) who would mainly benefit from this, although areas further away from the village will also enjoy much improved internet speeds, and your Parish Council will continue with efforts to bring SFBB to the further reaches of our Parish in the future. Of course it’s always ‘subject to survey’, but we are confident that the current BDUK schedule to have it installed, commissioned and ready for our use by December this year is achievable, possibly earlier if the technical surveys are positive.

 

And the news gets better ! The fibre installation will not cost the community anything. The installation will be funded jointly by BT / BDUK / WSCC. Also, BT will continue to upgrade and maintain the installation in the future. The Oving Parish Council and Parish community wish to thank all parties for their assistance in this project.
Once up and running, users of internet services in the Oving Parish (home owners, businesses, etc…) will be able to choose if they wish to access this new superfast service, or remain on their existing contracts. If they elect to change over to the superfast broadband, they can negotiate directly with any ISP such as BT, Sky, Talk Talk, etc…  (there are about 500 to choose from…) to agree your own connection and data package.
We are also working with BT/BDUK/WSCC on a good solution for those areas further away from the Oving village surround, and will keep you posted.

Any queries or other related information, please email me on  

Andrew Wilkinson

 

 

A27 – PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS

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CURRENT STATUS (January 2016)

  • Oving Parish Council (OPC) has been aware of the proposed improvements to the A27 Chichester Bypass for some years. Previous studies and reports have been studied with interest. The Government has agreed in principal that funding of £60 to £90 million will be made available to make these improvements.
  • Highways England (HE) engaged consultants Mott MacDonald to come up with proposal. OPC is aware that they have recently started consulting stakeholders who have then been sworn to secrecy. OPC has not yet been consulted.
  • In January 2016 the Observer newspapers and Spirit FM leaked details of the seven options for improvements for the A27 being considered by Mott MacDonald. Small maps of all 7 options with “thumbnails” for each junction can be viewed on either the Chichester Observer or Spirit FM websites. HE has advised that these are only drafts that may change before they go for public consultation in March 2016.
  • Options 1, 2, 2a and 3 are for the various improvements to the existing A27 Chichester Bypass that curves south of the city from the Portfield roundabout to the Fishbourne roundabout. Options 4 and 5 show two possible routes for a new northern bypass. Option 6 is for a new stretch of road that avoids the Portfield and Bognor Road roundabouts before re-joining the existing bypass before the Whyke roundabout. There are then improvements to the remaining junctions to the Fishbourne roundabout.
  • Option 6 is the one that concerns Oving Parish the most. It arcs south from a new junction with the A285 Petworth road in the corner of the parish of Tangmere. It then has flyovers over Tangmere Road, Drayton Lane and the Railway line before descending to a new roundabout on the A259 Bognor Road just before the existing Bognor Road roundabout. The access link back onto the existing A27 Chichester Bypass goes through a small corner of the parish of Runcton. It looks like there may be raised dual carriageways above mainly agricultural land through the northern part of Oving Parish. This will be visually intrusive for much of its route. It will also be noisy and will pollute the air for many of our residents. It is likely to be the most expensive option but will need to be fought against for our residents.
  • The cheapest options are either of the new northern bypasses; it is always easier, cheaper and faster to build a new road than it is to modify all the junctions on the existing A27 Chichester Bypass. The construction work at these junctions would cause even further disruption than currently but would not solve the problem.
  • The A27 Chichester Bypass is now used by about 60% local traffic – although figures as high as 80% has been claimed. The remaining 40% (or 20% depending on your preference) is through traffic. With the inevitable increase in new housing developments included in the adopted Chichester Local Plan, the number of local users will only increase. If Chichester is to survive, most of these will have to use or cross the bypass to get into the city.
  • If our LOLA campaign fails to prevent the closure of the Oving Traffic Lights (see other report on this website) then residents from a large catchment area south of the bypass will be adversely affected. This will include those who currently work in Chichester, go to St Richards Hospital, medical and dental practices or shopping etc. Many of our residents are already choosing to go to Bognor Regis to shop as it is less congested and parking is easier and cheaper or to Barnham to catch a train.
  • The OPC has not yet fully discussed the A27 options, but has agreed to form a Working Group to evaluate them and liaise with those in surrounding parishes who are concerned about the numerous traffic issues south of the city. This will be done mainly in the first consultation period starting in March 2016. Anyone who is interested and concerned would be welcome to volunteer to help this Working Group. Please contact the undersigned.
  • Our initial thoughts are that, for some of the reasons outlined above, it may be necessary to support one of the new northern bypass options to take the majority of the through traffic. In addition, it is likely that one of the improvement options will become essential to the existing Chichester Bypass to handle the increased traffic. Eventually, ownership and responsibility for the existing bypass will presumably pass to West Sussex Highways.

For more information or to volunteer please contact: 

Sjoerd Schuyleman, Chairman Oving Parish Council
Home:  01243 780733
Mobile: 07803088339
Email: 

 

STATUS REPORT ON THE LOLA CAMPAIGN

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 BACKGROUND 2013 -2015

You can read all the background to the LOLA campaign from 2013-2015 by clicking here.

UPDATE – PLANS FOR 2016

  • In January 2016 the Observer newspaper and Spirit FM leaked details of the seven options for improvements to the A27 being considered by Mott MacDonald, consultants working on behalf of HE. HE has advised that these are only drafts that may change before they go for public consultation in March 2016.
  • Brief comments on these options can be seen elsewhere on this Community Website.
  • Groundworks have now commenced on the Shopwyke Lakes development site and construction of the roads and buildings will start soon. This is now identified as a “neighbourhood” of Chichester and further developments in the area are planned. These could double the population there and it is inconceivable that they should be isolated from the city by the closure of the Oving crossroads.
  • Planning Application O/14/01777/OUT will be resubmitted by OPC to CDC at the beginning of June 2016. We shall again run a publicity campaign to encourage support from local residents and surrounding parishes that will be affected by the closure of the Oving Traffic Lights.
  • OPC will insist that our planning application is considered by the Planning Committee. This will probably be after HE has issued their preferred option – currently planned for Summer 2016. There will then be a further consultation period until the decision is agreed in Summer 2017.
  • When the Planning Committee hears or application, the most likely outcome will be that they will recommend to Defer it until the option for the A27 has been agreed. That will gain us further time for our Traffic Consultant to carry out any further studies required and hopefully mean that the application cannot be cancelled again. There is still a good chance that the committee members will vote to approve it!

For more information or assistance contact: 

Sjoerd Schuyleman, Chairman Oving Parish Council
Home:  01243 780733
Mobile: 07803088339
Email: 

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